Recently, I’ve done a few live videos with HomeTalk, so I thought I’d go ahead and compile them into one big post and make a one-stop shop for them….My sweet hubby has been the amazing videographer, and I’m so thankful he’s been able to join me for every live on HomeTalk! I feel like we make a pretty awesome team. 😉

By the way, if you’ve never heard of HomeTalk.com, you’ve got to check them out! They’re a HUGE online community that discusses all things home and garden.

My very first live video with HT was this past October of 2016. 😉 To date, I’ve done live videos for every season except summer! So you know what that means….I need to schedule a summer-styled, live-video “date” with HT soon, right?! 😉 I definitely think so!

In this video, I shared with you all about styling a gorgeous Christmas mantel. I also used a very helpful item for my DIY projects and shared all about it as I showed my viewers how to make glitter houses. 😉 You can also read my blog post for these sparkly accessories!

Oh, this video was a blast! I showed you how to make a variety of garlands on a shoestring budget! You’ll be amazed (or at least I hope you will be!) at how inexpensive they are to make, and yet these beautiful pieces look like they came straight from a high-end home decor store! Plus, when prepping for this video, I wanted to include both neutral AND colorful styles. You can read all about these garlands by clicking here.

Below is the “before” picture…I found these pots at various thrift stores and the dollar store, and then some were found brand new at Home Depot. Of course, I grabbed a few of these pots from my back porch as well. You definitely can use the ones you already have! I also wrote a detailed blog post on this topic as well….You can read it here — “Easy Whitewashed, Stenciled and Faux-Concrete DIY Pots.”

In this video, I shared so, so, SO many DIY projects for creating a Spring tablescape and mantel. I’m all about pinching pennies and making the decor myself, as long as it looks beautiful! I shared with my viewers how to make these beautiful chargers, the vibrant-green moss runner, the ruffled runner, and lots of other beautiful decor. You can also read all about our Spring home by clicking on these 2 links: our DIY, Natural Spring Tablescape and our Natural and Rustic DIY Spring Mantel.

In this video, I shared with you all sorts of DIY Easter eggs, such as eggs with stickers, faux-concrete eggs, watercolor eggs, baby’s breath eggs, etc. I also did a blog post for this video, and you can read all about that by clicking on this title — DIY Easter Eggs.

Well, that’s it at the moment. Were you able to watch any of these lives? If so, which one is your favorite? I’d love to hear all about it! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!

Also, I want to thank you all for your kindness and sweet encouragement as I share with y’all about our home. I love getting to do this whole blog thing….It’s been a huge blessing, and y’all are definitely a big part of that! So I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Update: Since publishing this post a couple of months ago, I’ve done two more lives with my hubby, and here are the links if you’d like to watch them!

Giveaway is now closed. A huge and hearty thanks to all who entered! Click this link to find out the winner! Please know that I appreciate each and everyone of you…for your kind words and loving support. It’s blessed my heart in more ways than you’ll ever know!! xoxo

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Hello friends, and thanks for stopping by today! Before I begin, I wanted to remind you to follow along with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook, so that you don’t miss another post! 😉

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I have some very exciting news! Currently, our home is in one of my all-time favorite magazines…American Farmhouse Style!! I’m thrilled to share with you that AFS chose to put our home on the FRONT COVER, and they gave us a 12-page spread! So crazy, and it’s on newsstands now!

I’m seriously honored and humbled that one of my favorite magazines shared our home! So, to the editors of AFS, if you’re reading this post, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! xoxo

So, to celebrate this exciting news, I’m giving away this magazine, plus some of my other favorite goodies, to one lucky winner! Entering is easy, and all you have to do is head to my Facebook page for all the details! (Please click this link to enter.)

Here are the fun prizes you’ll win: some beautiful framed art, a set of flour-sack napkins, a rustic chalkboard, and a signed copy of the latest American Farmhouse Style magazine!

Thanks to all of you for your sweet encouragement and support as I continue on this adventurous blogging journey! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at TheRusticBoxwood@gmail.com, or comment below, and I’ll get back with you as soon as I can! Have an awesome day!

Hey sweet friends! Recently, I shared our summer home tour on another friend’s blog…Shelstring…for her fabulous Summer Home Tour Series. Michelle is such a sweetheart, and she has a whole collection of various bloggers’ homes! You don’t want to miss this series! You can read all about our home here. 🙂 In our summer home tour, you’ll see all sorts of farmhouse decor…complete with white rockers, lots of flowers, and wonderful, vintage finds!

Here’s a sneak peek of our home…

So, I hope you’re wanting to hop on over to Shelstring now, if you haven’t already! Stop back by and say hey, and let me know what you thought about our summer home tour.

And when you’re finished checking out our home, please stop by and say “hey” on my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest….Or comment below. I always love to hear from y’all! Have a wonderful day!

Recently, I added some rustic accessories to the bathroom, and I wanted to share this new decor with you. 🙂

First, there’s the galvanized storage shelf. It didn’t come with hooks, so I bought two “S” hooks at Home Depot, and then my sweet hubby used a handy tool to squeeze one end of each hook to the rod so that it wouldn’t come off easily. 😉 I shopped our home for fun accessories for this rustic shelf and found a white ironstone pitcher, some grainsack napkins, white towels and a cute concrete pot with some greenery.

Also, this awesome vintage Sutliff can was a serious score from a recent estate sale. I absolutely love the details….It’s the perfect floral vase for our bathroom! And because the top has a wide opening, all I did was use a small mason jar filled with water and then slipped that jar right on into the Sutliff can. 😉

In addition to the Sutliff can, a grainsack napkin and an antler were the perfect accessories for some extra farmhouse touches.

What do you think of these new accessories? I love it that anyone can add a touch of farmhouse charm to their home…no matter what style of home they live in. Don’t you agree? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!

I hope you enjoyed this quick update for our bathroom. If you’d like to see the remodel as a whole, click on this link here. Have a great day!

Update: I recently added a new sign above our galvanized shelf, and I thought y’all might like to see it. So here she is!

Hey y’all! Thanks for stopping by today! For those of you in need of a fun idea for a hostess gift, here’s one for you…monogrammed pillows!

Monogramming is inexpensive, and it makes such a big statement! So much bang for your buck!

I chose to hand-make pillows for my special hosts, but there are lots of wonderful, pre-made items you could purchase to have monogrammed, such as linens, trays, dishes, throws, handbags, tote bags, jewelry, stationery, lamp shades, placemats, or my all-time favorite…silverware! (Confession: It just melts my heart to see antique, monogrammed flatware at estate sales and yard sales! I get weak in the knees just thinking about it!) 😉

To give you an idea as to the cost of monogramming, my local store charged $10 per pillow to personalize, and that’s a middle-of-the-road price.

I chose to make pillows with white, linen-blend fabric and black pompoms that I had on hand, but if you’d rather, you could easily pick up a $4-$7 pillow cover from such stores as Ikea, H&M (online) or Hobby Lobby, and then take them to a shop to be monogrammed! Or, if you feel adventurous and want to make your own pillow covers, but you don’t know where to start, I’ve written a couple of pillow tutorials — easy, diy pompom pillows and diy, killim-style pillow covers.

Before ordering the monogramming, I measured and cut four 22 x 22″ pieces of fabric (for a 20 x 20″ pillow), ironed the edges to make them 20 x 20″ and then took them to my local monogram shop to have two of the fabric squares personalized. After the embroidery was completed, I got to work on the pillows.

First, I sewed the pompom trim on, and then the right sides of the fabric together, and lastly, an 18″ zipper onto the bottom of each pillow. Once that was all finished, I flipped the pillows right-side out and stuffed pillow inserts into the pillow covers to make sure everything looked okay. Thankfully, there were no mistakes this time! Thank you, Lord! 😉 (On a sidenote, before cutting your fabric and trim, be sure to launder it…You’d hate to spend all your precious time measuring and cutting, only to find it a completely different size and/or color!)

And to add a fun pop of color, one idea would be to embellish your pillow with some vibrant trim and simply glue it onto your premade pillow cover, but only after it’s been monogrammed…if you’re planning to go that route. 😉

Whether you choose to follow the classic etiquette guidelines, or venture out and do something totally different, make it your own and have fun! I hope you’re inspired to monogram either a gift for that special someone or personalize your own items. What is it that you’ve made all your own with a monogram? Bed sheets? Coasters? A classic oxford? I’d love to hear about it! Comment below, or stop by my social media and say hey! You can find me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook. Have a wonderful day!

Hey y’all! I’m so excited to share with you our “summer” living room makeover! It’s filled with nautical touches, vibrant colors, and tons of “old-meets-new” ingredients to this fun room!

Let’s start with the fireplace. It once was a dark and dreary area of our living space, but now with the vintage, thrifted paper taped around the fireplace door, it looks completely different!

On the mantle, are some beautiful accessories, including two antique silhouettes, two nautical mirrors (on clearance from Target), and two mini boxwood wreaths from Target. The pretty flower box was from an antique’s sale, and the faux hydrangeas are a Michael’s purchase. I love how all the colors warm the space!

The cane chair came from an estate sale for $5, the fringed throw came from West Elm on clearance for $10, and the pillow is also a clearance find from Target!

The lantern is a HomeGoods purchase. A bag of crushed sea shells (from Walmart) fills the vase, as well as a pillar candle from Pottery Barn Outlet and a little starfish.

To the right of the fireplace, sits a thrifted, vintage, chalk-painted bookshelf. (A blog post on that will come at a later date.) I love this bookshelf, because it is perfect for that little nook in our living room! It hides a lot of the wires that come with video gaming systems, dvd players and digital boxes. And since it doesn’t have a back to it, all the natural light beams through the shelves! It’s a win-win in my eyes! 🙂

Don’t you just love this gold gumball machine?! I got it for a steal at a thrift store!

And this fun-colored globe sits atop our bookshelf, in all its shining glory. It’s a yard-sale find from a dear family-friend. Those purchases are the best kind.

Below our new globe is a collection of inspiring books filled with beautiful pictures and exciting projects! I highly recommend every one of these wonderful books! My vintage, gold pineapple (found at Goodwill) and my nautical bookend (clearance purchase from Target) are sitting ever-so-prettily on the shelf. The fun colors of all these embellishments add just the right amount of whimsy, which makes my heart swoon! 🙂

The floor lamp is an estate-sale find coming in at a whopping $14. It needed a lot of TLC, so I grabbed my white spray-paint can and went to town on the lamp base. The burlap shade came from an interior decorating store. I looked high and low for the perfect-sized shade, and I ended up at this particular store. The price was reasonable, so I’m thankful to have found just what we needed!

Sitting on our white, slip-covered Ikea sofa are pillows that I made from fabric purchased at our local discount fabric store. (If you’re interested in some tutorials on making pillows, you can find them here and here.) And I “upgraded” the white Ikea pillow cover with a vintage green-and-white doily that was sewn onto the cover. (Super-easy to do, by the way!)

And how cute is this bar cart?! It was only $5 at an estate sale! It holds our diy spray-painted lamp from a thrift store (similar blog post found here), an antique frog that holds a vintage flashcard, more inspiring books, a nautical door stopper (on clearance from Target), a vintage crate and some embroidered needlework.

On the other side of our living room sits another white, slipcovered sofa with more pillows that I made using fabric from our local discount fabric store. The white pillow with the jute trim is a Hobby Lobby purchase. And the rug, sitting over the back of the sofa, is a clearance score from Target!

My honey and I found this gorgeous old trunk at a yard sale. It stinks inside, but if I keep it closed, you wouldn’t even know it had a stinch! Shhh…our secret! 🙂

The buoy was a HomeGoods clearance item, and I picked up the boxwood pot at Pottery Barn Outlet. The fun, white tray was a Target clearance score!

And moving onto our coffee table, just so you know….This table is massive. I’m talking two-Ikea-tables-put-together-big! So big, that in all honesty, I sometimes have a difficult time putting things together “just right” on this table. But I’m happy with it right now. It’s got two Target rugs that I bought on clearance (I know, I know. Enough on the clearance items, right? Sorry! I don’t think that’ll ever change! Lol!)

I found the over-sized starfish at an antiques market, and the seagrass basket is another Pottery Barn Outlet item.

And here’s more eye candy with colorful coffee-table books. (Ahem. There’s a fun little secret on decorating that I’d like to share with you….Book covers have a creative and inexpensive way of adding color to a room! You can add books with covers that are similar in color, or you can mix and match book covers that are opposite of the color wheel….Either way, book covers add a fun punch to your decor!)

The antique pulley was a $1 yard-sale find! And this beautiful turtle shell was a $10 find at a local antiques’ store! You can find these shells at places like Pottery Barn, but they cost so much more there! If you keep your eyes peeled at local antique markets and yard sales, you’re bound to find a real one that’s clean and cheap! 🙂 I promise, it’s definitely a conversation starter!

I bought this gorgeous brass bucket at my local Goodwill for 99 cents. Don’t you just love its shininess and the ornate handles?!

The sea shells were in a pack of 10 for 99 cents at another local thrift shop. The package says you can actually bake food in these, but I’m not so sure about doing that. Who knows…Maybe I’ll venture out of my comfort zone one day and give it a try. 🙂

This shiny, antique silver dish was a yard sale find. Isn’t it such a unique piece?! I especially love the lid. So dainty.

Well, that’s all I have for you today. Have you been inspired to go out and find decor from the thrift store? If so, I’d love to hear about it! Comment below, or stop by and say hey on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook. It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers! Thanks again for stopping by.

Yes, I know. It’s still very much winter here in these parts of the woods, but my cold-blooded body has had enough already. I was ready for warm weather back in November! So, to help my mental-state-of-mind, I’ve brought in all kinds of Spring decor for our living room! I don’t care that it’s still winter! Out with the cold and in with the fresh sense of SPRING is what I say!!!

I love this mantel of ours. It has a mix of yard-sale and thrift-store finds! All those vintage hankies are part of my large hankie collection that I’ve picked up from various places over the past few months. They’re simply tied together to make one long train of a banner!

And what do you think about this vintage postcard (in the pic below)? Isn’t it precious?! I purchased it at a local antiques’ shop, and it’s postmarked April 3, 1908 from Danville, VA to a “Miss Etta Butcher.” (If someone knows a relative of hers, I’d be happy to give this card to them! Wouldn’t that be cool to find one of her family members?!) And I love the beautiful colors of this vintage china plate. The soft pastels help to bring out these fun spring colors of our living room!

And on the other side of our mantel sits a bamboo frame with fun artwork, an old swan that I spray-painted metallic gold, a brass candle holder with an aqua candle, and gorgeous embroidery that I cut up and framed. (The embroidery was on a very stained napkin, so what to do with the part that’s not stained? Cut it and frame it!)

On our coffee table sits a fun collection of decorating books. As you see in the pic below, I’ve placed my grandmother’s quilt that she hand-made for me when I was born. It definitely holds special meaning for me! She was such a great seamstress!

In the middle of our coffee table sits the really colorful globe that I picked up at a yard sale for $3! Doesn’t it perfectly bring out the blues and pinks around our living room?!

On one end of our white couch sits this pretty hand-stitched art work, “A true friend is a gift of God.” When I bought this art, the frame was actually black. No bueno. So I pulled out my Rub-N-Buff and went to town on the frame. It was so easy to just rub it on with a pouncer! The pink flowers and vase are from Ikea, and the vintage perfume busts are from Avon (purchased at a thrift store).

Next to this sweet vignette sits diy pillows and a blanket that tie it all together….

On the other side of our couch sits this Gothic American art work that I found at a Waffle House yard sale. Haha! Yes, our local Waffle House was having a yard sale in the parking lot, and I got this beauty for $1! The lamp is a diy project (found here), and the vintage, brass candle holder came from a local thrift store. (Surprise! Lol!)

When decorating, you want to make sure that even your remotes have a cute place to live. In my case, I’m — at the moment — storing them in a cute, white planter.

And lastly, I want to touch on my pillows. Pillows have a way of bringing in fun pops of color, and adding pretty details to them is so easy! I like to keep random fabric on hand, so that I can whip some together in no time! (For a couple of posts on diy pillows, you can see them here and here.) It’s nice to already have some fabric and trim on hand. 🙂

On our loveseat (above), I tucked a quilt on the seat part. (That quilt holds a special place in my heart, because that’s the quilt my honey and I were sitting on when we got engaged!)

I hope you enjoyed this post on adding touches of Spring! What colors are you planning to add to your home for Spring? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below, or stop by Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, HomeTalk and Facebook and say hello! It always makes my day to hear from my sweet readers!

Hey friends! Today, I want to share with you something that’s near and dear to my heart…antique china! (insert sigh)

I have a huge weakness for any type of vintage china that’s decorated with a gold rim and that has the pretty pastel colors….Aaaand anything dainty, floral and delicate! In other words, I love shabby chic!

My love for vintage china began probably about a year ago, when I discovered some super-inexpensive (25 cents each, that is!!) fancy dishes at a thrift store. When I realized I could find delicate beauty on the dime for my tableware, I was sold! I don’t want any of my collection to be too matchy-matchy. What’s the fun in that?! Granted, some of it is definitely from the same line of each other, but that’s okay. I just like variety. 🙂

My number one rule when buying china is that I have to absolutely LOVE it. There’s so much vintage china out there (via hand-me-downs, thrift stores, estate sales, and antique stores), that if I just buy every inexpensive piece that I see, I’d have a serious problem of clutter!

So in addition to the above pics, below is a little snippet of my collection. You’ll notice that I’ve paired some pieces with each other that don’t share the same design, but they DO share a similar color palette (which is key).

What do you think about the gilded salt cellars and the vegetable bowl (below)? I’m in love!

And I love these beautiful tea cups! Look at those gorgeous curves!

When my dishes aren’t on display, they’re tucked away as neatly as possible in one of my kitchen cabinets (pic below). And to take it a step further, I added a few sheets of scrapbook paper to the back of the cabinet wall!

I hope you enjoyed viewing my little collection. It’s still growing, and one of the main things I’m on the lookout for right now, are dainty tea cups with pretty handles. That’s what I love about antique shopping. You never know what you’ll find!

What do you think about my china? Do you have a similar love for fancy dishes? I’d love to hear all about it!